This chapter is from the book

Managing Your Event Library

Now that you understand the value of events as an organizational tool, it’s important to know how to manage your Event Library. There are several ways to merge, split, and rename events.

Merging Events

If you end up with too many events, you can quickly merge two or more events into a single event. This makes sense if you have two events with media that is closely related (such as by client or topic).

There are two ways to merge events:

You can select multiple events that you want to combine, and choose File > Merge Events. In the Merge Events window, give the event a new name, choose a disk where you want to store the event’s source media files from the Location menu, and click OK.

You can create and name a new event, and then drag one or more existing events into the new (empty) event.

Splitting Events

If you find that an event is getting too big to manage, you can split it into two events. There are two strategies you can employ to make this task simple:

You can create a new event and drag the media from its current event into a new event. The original media files (or aliases) on your disk will be moved into the new Events folder.

You can choose to create a duplicate event and modify it by highlighting the desired event and choosing File > Duplicate Event. You can then go through the event and delete any unwanted clips. Simply select an unwanted clip (or clips) and press Command+Delete to remove it from the event and your disk. Be careful not to just press Delete (which seems natural): Instead of removing a clip, you will just mark the clip as “Rejected.”

Copying Media Between Events

When you want to have a clip appear in two events, you can copy it. This will place a version of the clip in both events, which means that files are duplicated on disk. To copy the clip:

If the event is on the same disk, hold down the Option key when dragging.

If the events are on different disks, simply drag.

You’ll know that a copy is occurring if a green circle with a plus symbol appears next to the clip’s name when dragging.

Moving Media Between Events

When you want to take a clip from one event and put it in another, you can choose to move it. This means that the file will actually be removed from one folder on your disk and relocated to another. To move a clip:

If the event is on the same disk, simply drag from one event to another.

If the events are on different disks, hold down the Command key when you drag.

You’ll know that a move is occurring if no symbol appears next to the clip’s name when dragging. It’s important to note that this actually moves the clip from one drive to another at the Finder level. This could be dangerous if you are sharing media.

What’s the Wait?

Keep in mind that when you copy or move media, files are actually transferring in the background. If you are managing a lot of media, it can take a few minutes to complete the task of copying or moving the source files from disk to disk.